Iraqi PM Refers Electoral Body to Integrity Commission

Iraqi PM Refers Electoral Body to Integrity Commission

Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi having his biometric voting card checked with his fingerprint upon arriving at a polling station in Baghdad's Karrada district on May 12, 2018. (AFP)

Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat

Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi questioned on Tuesday the transparency of the electoral process in wake of the weekend’s parliamentary elections.

The PM consequently referred the members of the Independent High Electoral Commission to the Iraqi Commission of Integrity to investigate the e-voting systems, sources close to the Iraqi government told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“The electoral commission did not hire a specialized company to examine and verify that the electronic counting and sorting devices are efficient before the elections,” the sources confirmed.

This prompted the prime minister to demand that the integrity commission investigate the violations, they added.

A committee was formed within the integrity commission to probe Abadi’s claims.

Such a move may jeopardize the credibility of the Independent High Electoral Commission and create major problems with elections results, especially given the many objections and doubts expressed by various electoral bodies and political blocs over the electronic vote-count process.